Slayers Holidays
by Earth Star
Summary: A collection of drabbles that were written for the 12 Days Slayers Challenge with a different prompt on each drabble.
1. Candle

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or this series and I don't wish to make a profit from writing this story.

Author's Note: This is part of the 12 Slayers challenge I'm doing on livejournal. So, this is just a collection of the drabbles I've written for it.

** Candlelight**

As a youth, Zelgadis had always thought candlelight brought out the beauty in anything. Even an empty bottle of wine could suddenly appear more romantic next to the gentle blaze of the candle. Zelgadis was not a romantic at heart, but he could not deny that the small candle on the table caused the sleeping Amelia to look quite beautiful.

They had spent the last two days researching the town's library for a cure for him. He hadn't even realized how late it actually was until he had entered Amelia's room and found her sleeping at the small table.

Amelia had told him to come see her as soon as he discovered anything new, but Zelgadis did not have the heart to wake her. Now that he thought of it, she had been staying up as late as he had been, so Amelia probably hadn't slept much for the past couple of days.

He quietly set his notes on the table and brushed the hair away from her eyes. The flame flickered as Amelia stirred and shifted slightly.

There was no way Zelgadis could lift her into bed without waking her up, so he would have to go with the nextbest solution. He unfastened his cape and drapped it around Amelia. It wasn't much of a blanket, but at least she wouldn't catch cold.

Amelia stirred and surprised Zelgadis by snuggling deeper into his cape. He chuckled and gently patted her head as he blew out the candle. Lina would probably tease him relentlessly once she saw Amelia in the morning, but that was fine by him. The image he had seen was worth the price.


	2. stars

Lina happily popped another tiny chocolate star in her mouth. She and Gourry had each bought their own little bag from the chocolate shop. "These chocolates are awesome! I can't decide which I like better, the white or the dark chocolate."

Gourry chewed on his star thoughtfully and made no reply.

"Hey, are you listening?" Lina demanded.

Gourry swallowed as they turned the next corner. "Sorry, I was just trying to make a wish."

Lina blinked as she reached for a star that was a swirled combination of dark and white chocolate. "A wish?"

"Yeah," Gourry replied as he fingered another star. "When I was a kid, a friend told me that making a wish while eating a chocolate star is the same as making a wish on a regular one."

"Oh, really," Lina replied amused. "And did your wish come true?"

Gourry shook his head sadly. "Nah, I've eaten ten of these and your breasts still aren't any bigger."

After Lina whacked him on the head, he couldn't help but wonder if the stars he saw would work any better.


	3. family

Lina looked over the small items she had placed on the table. "Let's see, Mama should like the fish bone comb I found her and Papa should like the dagger, but I still have no idea what to send to Luna." Lina sighed as she ran her hand through her hair.

Luna was always hard to find a present for. It wasn't that she was picky, on the contrary she was quite content with what she had, and that was the problem. It was hard to find something she actually needed or wanted. "Why couldn't I have been an only child?" Lina grumbled. "At least the winter festival isn't for another week back home."

Gourry frowned as he drank a swig of his ale. "The winter festival, I thought that was at the end of the month?"

Lina shook her head. "Most countries it is, but we celebrate it in the middle of the month in Zefielia."

"Why?"

Lina closed her eyes in thought and snagged another bite of Gourry's bread before she tackled her seafood pasta. "No one really knows, it's been like that for a century." She paused in thought. "Although, my dad always thought it was because it took our people that long to recover from the celebration...and some don't even remember what happened to them."

She waved her fork around promptly went to whack Gourry's hand from stealing her garlic bread, but she missed. "Hey! Eat your own meal!"

Gourry swallowed the bread in two gulps. "Double standard since you ate mine," he shrugged and stared at the comb and dagger. "Why not get your sister a hat."

"No way," Lina replied. "I need to find a small gift, it's bad enough on what I have to pay for to send these things." She drunk a mouthful of ale. "Besides, Luna hates hats." She then tilted her head at Gourry. "While we're on the subject, what are you going to get your parents?"

Gourry seemed taken aback by the question which surprised Lina until he returned to attacking his steak. "Actually, my parents are dead, so I don't have to worry about it."

Lina nearly choked and the ale burned as it went up her nose.

"Lina, are you okay?" Gourry asked, reaching forward.

Lina held her hand up as she finished coughing. "I'm fine," she said staring at him in shock. "But seriously, you're parents-"

Gourry just nodded, he trying to give a smile, but it didn't show in his eyes. "They both died a long time ago."

Lina opened her mouth demanding to ask why he never told her this before. However, she felt like a jerk for thinking of asking that, and closed her mouth. Of course, how would you bring up a topic like that? You can't just say "By the way, my parents are dead, pass the sugar would ya?"

Still, she'd known Gourry for almost a year now. How could she not know this? Feeling the taste of heel in her mouth, she slowly asked "Do you have any siblings?"

Gourry's eyes strangely darkened, which shook Lina. "I did have an older brother, but he's dead too." He lifted his ale and brought it to his mouth. "And he wasn't the type to buy presents for."

"So, you don't have any family?" Lina asked to confirm, although she wondered if she should be pushing for this kind of information this was. She kind of felt she was peeping into something she wasn't suppose to see.

He shrugged. "A couple of uncles, and a cousin or two, but no one that I was ever close with."

Lina bite her bottom lip. Geez, now she felt like a real jerk. Gourry placed a hand on her shoulder and broke her from her brooding.

He gave the same goofy smile he always gave. "Hey, worry about it. It happened a long time ago, and you didn't know."

Lina scratched her cheek. _That may be true,_ she thought. _But still. _She blushed and mumbled. "Do you want to exchange presents?"

Gourry blinked. "You mean, between the two of us?"

Lina coughed. "Sure, I mean we hang out all the time anyway, but this will be our first winter festival together, so it only makes sense."

Gourry raised an eyebrow. "First, as in we're going to celebrate more together?"

Lina's blushed deepened. "A-anyway, don't think you can get me something cheap! I deserve a high class present, got it?"

Gourry chuckled. Little did Lina know that Gourry had already got Lina's present the day before. After all, he considered Lina to be his family now, but he'd keep that fact to himself until at least the next year


	4. Gift

Amelia sighed as she grasped her mug of hot tea. "I'm stumped Miss Lina, I can't think of a good winter gift for Zelgadis."

Lina munched on her biscuit. She didn't understand why Amelia was so distraught. Amelia and Zelgadis had been married for almost a year now, heck Gourry and herself had been married for two. Coming up with gift ideas shouldn't be that hard.

"What's the big deal, you've given Zel winter gifts before."

"Yes, but this is our first winter as a married couple, so I want it to be special." She leaned over the table. "What did you give Mister Gourry for your first winter gift together?"

Lina scratched her cheek. "Um...just a new sword and he got me a necklace, but we didn't make a huge deal of it."

Amelia frowned and rested her head on her hands. "I even asked Miss Martina for advice."

Lina choked. "You asked Martina?"

"She and Zangulus have been married for a few years," Amelia argued. "I figured she could speak from experience."

Lina scoffed. "So, what did she tell you? Do a live sacrifice to Zoamelgustar?"

Amelia shook her head. "Actually, she suggested I tie a bow around my neck and then lay in bed and wait for Zelgadis to appear, but I can't do that as a present."

Lina coughed and spat out her mouth of tea. "Amelia," she blurted after she quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "She was saying...you know, giving Zel a 'fun time'."

Amelia blushed red. "What-No! I course I understood what she meant."

Lina frowned and ran a hand through her hair. "Then, what's the problem? Just do that!"

Amelia's blush deepened and she quietly muttered, "I already did that for his birthday."

Lina blushed and quickly changed the topic to pocket watches


	5. Games

The blizzard raged outside the inn window. Lina tuned it out as she stared at the chessboard. Nothing else mattered, she could care less if the whole room suddenly burst into flame. There was no way she was letting this happen. She refused to let Naga beat her at chess.

Naga laughed haughtily as she moved another pawn. "Ohohoho! If you want Lina, I can graciously let you admit defeat now and all you have to do is buy me the next ten dinners."

Lina snarled as she glared furiously at her pieces. When Naga had suggested they play chess to pass the time, Lina had thought she was joking. Of course, Lina became smug when Naga revealed she was serious.

This was chess, the most intellectual game on the planet. Beating an idiot like Naga would be a breeze, and yet somehow Naga had been kicking her butt.

_Divine intervention_ Lina mused. _That has to be it, but what kind of divine being would help Naga._

Naga yawned. "To be honest, going against you is child's play compared to my sister."

Lina's hand froze as it hovered over the board. Had she just heard what she thought she heard? "Did you say sister?"

Naga whipped her hair over her shoulder. "Why, yes, my darling little sister, now she's a real chess master." She smiled proudly. "Of course, great women do run in my family."

Lina stared with her mouth open. Yes, she figured that Naga hadn't come out of thin air, but to actually hear that the woman with the most horrible laughter in the world had actual relatives was startling. Not only that, but this person was an older sister?

Lina felt instant pity for Naga's little sister. It would be amazing if they were able to grow up sane with Naga around. On the other hand, as far as Lina knew, that little sister could be an identical copy of Naga.

A cold shiver crawled up her spine as a mental image of a younger Naga laughing her head off appeared. _ Dear Gods, TWO NAGAS? What a nightmare!_

"Lina," Naga whined. "Are you making a move or not?"

Lina shook free of her nightmare. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going." There was at least one safe conclusion, Lina would never have to face this possible sister of Naga's. _I mean seriously_, Lina thought. _What are the chances of a person meeting two members of the same family._ Feeling reassured, Lina selected her knight and moved to play


End file.
